Lake Shore Wisconsin Corp. in Sheboygan is raising $15 million to $25 million and forming an executive team to open the Lake Shore Bank, a "one-of-a-kind" bank that will provide special services to the deaf.

The new bank will be located in the Prairie States Building at 615 Pennsylvania Ave. in downtown Sheboygan.

The bank is being founded by James Meisser, who is chairman and president, and his wife, Jeanene Messer, who is chief operating officer and controller.

The Meissers moved to Kohler, Wis., from Chicago in June 2006 when James retired after 25 years of service at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) and Jeanene resigned from The PrivateBank and Trust Co.

"Jim and I had discussed starting a bank over a period of many years and there was only one location and name that we wanted. The state of Wisconsin for the location and Lake Shore Bank for the name," Jeanene told SBT.

James, who was born deaf, most recently was the supervisory financial analyst in charge of the FDIC's Division of Supervision Chicago regional information management group. He has served as an analyst, examiner and manager. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Lakeshore Bank believes he will become the first deaf person to lead a Wisconsin bank.

"As a result of my inability to hear, I have spent my entire life finding new and creative ways to communicate. Today there are many new and exciting technologies that can help, including many that will be used in the bank," James stated in a filing for the bank's state charter. "However, for most of my life, I have had to rely on my ability to form personal, one-on-one relationships. While others can pick up the phone to conduct business, I have to rely on the face-to-face interaction.  It is this unique blend of technology and intense, personalized relationships that will be the core of Lake Shore Bank."

The bank will feature special architectural designs and technologies to assist people who have trouble hearing.
"Jim is the eternal optimist. People have underestimated him all of his life but when he is focused on a task, he will always see it through to a successful completion and won't stop until he is on top. Being profoundly deaf, Jim has never heard a sound, so he tells potential investors that he has never heard the word 'no,' which is a true statement," Jeanene said.

The company is offering private shares to accredited investors.

"With several weeks to go, the response to the offering has been overwhelming, and we have more than 400 investor packets in circulation," Jeanene said.

This week, Lakeshore Bank added Thomas Schueller to its executive team. Schueller has been named chief credit officer and managing director. He has 37 years in the financial services industry, most recently serviing as president of Community Bank & Trust.

Schueller will oversee commercial and retail lending and credit administration at Lake Shore Bank.

"We're thrilled to add someone of Tom's caliber to the team," James Meisser said. "He will be a real asset for our clients."

The Meissers hope to open Lake Shore Bank's doors for business by the end of the year. For additional details about Lake Shore Bank, visit www.lswisc.com.

The Milwaukee Common Council's Zoning, Neighborhood and Development Committee today approved a Barrett administration proposal to boost revitalization along West Mitchell Street on Milwaukee's south side by creating a $3.1 million tax incremental financing (TIF) district.
The TIF district for the Historic Mitchell Street neighborhood would assist in attracting and retaining retail, office and service businesses in one of the city's oldest commercial corridors. The initiative would assist businesses as well as improve key catalytic properties, add new harp lights, update the streetscaping and improve public safety. Home owners in the neighborhood also would be eligible for loans up to $10,000 to make repairs to the exteriors of their homes.
The Mitchell Street plan covers the area one block north and one block south along W. Mitchell Street, from South Fifth Street to South 16th Street and includes a commercial area south of West Forest Home Avenue between South 13th and South 15th Streets. The proposal was approved last month by the Redevelopment Authority but still requires approval from both the full Common Council and the Joint Review Board.
"My Stronger Neighborhoods agenda has meant greater use of all available economic development tools to leverage jobs, new businesses and additional private investment in areas throughout the City of Milwaukee," Mayor Tom Barrett said.
If approved, the Mitchell Street project would mark the City of Milwaukee's 24th neighborhood-focused TIF district.
For more information about TIF-assisted projects and to learn about all of the economic development tools used by the City of Milwaukee, visit the Department of City Development's online Business Toolbox at www.mkedcd.org.

Germantown-based IDL Solutions Inc. announced today it has won a potentially lucrative contract to provide information technology (IT) support to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
The 10-year Enterprise System Development (ESD) contract has a ceiling of $4 billion. The much-anticipated CMS ESD contract was a highly coveted and competitive procurement among the health IT industry.
Under the contract, IDL can provide a broad range of IT services to support CMS' Integrated IT Investment & System Life Cycle Framework. The Framework is a systematic and uniform methodology for information systems development and the CMS IT Modernization Program and initiatives.
The IDL Solutions-led team includes subcontractors Vangent Inc. (formerly Pearson Government Solutions), Computer Sciences Corporation, Z-Tech Corp., HCI Action Architectural Corp., TestPros Inc., PegaSystems Inc., Meta Informatix, LLC, Larmack Business Group Inc. and Delphi Research Inc.
"CMS has been an IDL client for the past several years. Today, we are very pleased to see that CMS values our team's capabilities and continues to place trust in our ability to support the agency and its mission," said Baly Ambegaoker, IDL's president and chief executive officer. "We are honored to be part of the ESD program."
IDL Solutions has federal offices in Vienna, Va. The company provides information technology services, including strategic enterprise solutions, enterprise networking and infrastructure management, and enterprise application and web solutions.
The company was a Waukesha County Chamber of Commerce Top Ten Small Business Award winner in 2004 and also was named a Future 50 company by the Council of Small Business Executives (COSBE).

The new Resident Preferred Parking (RPP) plan has not only freed up hundreds of parking spaces for residents living near the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus, but it is also altering the daily habits of thousands of the school's commuters, according to Alderman Michael D'Amato.
D'Amato, who worked with neighbors and UWM officials to develop the RPP, said UWM reports 15,000 students have already picked up tuition-funded bus passes for the semester, an increase of nearly 10 percent from last semester.
"The lasting value of RPP is not only to bring true parking relief to residents living near UWM, it's also to channel commuters to other transit and parking options," D'Amato said. Instead of circling around and around looking for parking spots on residential blocks, commuters are finding other ways to get to campus or are using alternative parking strategies."
D'Amato said the reduced traffic circulation means safer streets, less air pollution and enables commuters to use their time more efficiently.
The RPP, which went into effect Sept. 3, allows vehicles with RPP permits to park on one side of an RPP-designated street from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday. Residents of RPP-designated blocks are allowed to receive two permits per household to use for parking only on their block and their street only.
D'Amato said UWM also has reported a major increase in usage of the Klotsche Pavilion parking structure, which in the past has been underutilized as commuters opted instead for spaces on nearby streets.

The lottery for Milwaukee Brewers single game N.L. Division Series tickets closed Monday, with about 102,000 fans submitting applications for the right to purchase single-game tickets for the series.
"We are thrilled with the response from fans, as this represents one of the highest numbers of registrants in all of baseball," said Rick Schlesinger, Brewers executive vice president of business operations. "We want to thank everyone for their support, and we look forward to an exciting finish as we battle for the postseason."
The Brewers said that "on or around this Thursday," a random selection of winners will be made from the pool of registrants. Those selected will be notified on Friday via e-mail that they have the right to purchase up to four tickets to one game of the 2007 N.L. Division Series.
Registration for the N.L. Championship Series and World Series ticket lotteries remain open. Registration is free and available only at www.brewers.com.
Fans still have the option of guaranteeing purchase of postseason tickets by placing a deposit on 2008 season seat packages.
The Brewers trail the first-place Chicago Cubs by one game in the National League Central Division race. The Brewers have 13 games remaining and no off days. The Cubs have 11 games left and two off days.

The new Cambria Suites Appleton, a hotel featuring suites that are 25 percent larger than standard hotel rooms, is open for business.
The 100-suite hotel, located at 2940 N. Gateway Drive, is owned and operated by hotel developer Swift Hospitality Group of Freeport, Ill.. Swift Hospitality also is developing the 137-room Cambria Suites hotel in Schaumburg, Ill.
The Cambria Suites brand is owned by Choice Hotels International of Silver Spring, Md.
Fifty-eight Cambria Suites hotels are under development in 26 states nationwide and in Canada.
"We feel privileged to bring this thoughtful, stylish and contemporary new brand to Appleton with a great owner like Dave Swift," said William Edmundson, brand president of Cambria Suites. "The momentum behind the Cambria Suites brand is strong, and with the right brand in the right segment at the right time, we remain extremely confident in its growth prospects."

The Mequon-based Rince Nia Academy of Irish Dance has opened a second location in Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward.
The new location is at 342 N. Water St., Milwaukee, where the academy shares space with the Milwaukee Dance Theater.
Created by former Riverdance performers Sean Beglan and Jillian Winke Beglan, Rince Nia Academy's home base remains at the Logemann Community Center, 6100 W. Mequon Ave., in Mequon.
"We're opening our second space in the Third Ward to accommodate the needs of more advanced students," Beglan said. "Our beginner students will continue to take classes in Mequon."
Rince Nia is pronounced "rinka knee-ah" and is Irish for "dance champion." To learn more, visit www.rincenia.com.

The Nature Conservancy in Wisconsin announced it has elected Steve Bablitch, a partner with Quarles & Brady LLP in Milwaukee, as chairman of its board of trustees.
Bablitch previously served as chairman of the Conservancy's Wisconsin Board of Trustees from 2004 to 2005.
Bablitch considers the loss of large tracts of land to development to be the most pressing threat to Wisconsin's forests, prairies, lakes, rivers, streams and wetlands. He also said the Conservancy can play a major role in protecting high-quality natural areas by working innovatively with public and private partners.
"I care deeply about preserving natural and wild places, and I like The Nature Conservancy's collaborative approach," Bablitch said. "The Conservancy works well with government and business, and has the knowledge and experience necessary to conserve large areas of land. It's important to increase the pace at which we protect wild lands because they are disappearing at such a rapid rate. We need to make sure they aren't subdivided into small pieces and sold to multiple owners so that we can never recover them. We have to look at new ways of doing this.”
Bablitch said protection of Wisconsin's natural resources is crucial to the state's economy and its quality of life.
"Development is important, but some places should stay wild," Bablitch said. "People benefit from wild lands, and they want to know they're there and that they have access to them. Wild and natural lands are also important to our economy."
Prior to joining Quarles & Brady, Bablitch led the Wisconsin Department of Administration. He also is a former chairman and chief executive officer of Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Wisconsin.
For more information about the Nature Conservancy, visit http://nature.org/wisconsin.

United Auto Workers Local 95 in Janesville remains ready to go on strike if the call comes from Detroit. Picket signs are stacked; a strike schedule is set, and strike captains have their teams ready. Read more in SBT's daily roundup of headlines from newspapers across the state at www.biztimes.com.

Will your company's next great innovation be your next business? Consultant Kelley Starr provides some strategic food for thought in today's Milwaukee Biz Blog.

The BizTimes Stock Index lost 1.32 points to close at 177.00 Monday, and local stocks  rose with the broader market today in anticipation that the Federal Reserve Bank will cut its prime lending rate later this afternoon. The largest local advancers this morning were Johnson Controls Inc. (up $1.80 to $112.08) and Kohl's Corp. (up $1.38 to $57.27). The largest local decliners this morning were Magnetek Inc. (down 9 cents to $4.42) and Merge Technologies Inc. (down 8 cents to $4.50). The BizTimes Stock Index was created by Small Business Times and is monitored by North Shore Bank. The index, which measures the stock values of publicly held companies based in southeastern Wisconsin, is updated daily and can be viewed at www.biztimes.com.

The stock market soared by more than 250 points today moments after the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee decided to cut its prime interest rate by a half-point, in an effort to stave off a recession that could be caused by a severe housing slump and shaky financial markets.
The Fed announced today that it will reduce its federal funds rate, which is the interest banks charge each other, from 5.25 percent to 4.75 percent.
Most Wall Street analysts had only expected a quarter-point reduction in the rate.
"Economic growth was moderate during the first half of the year, but the tightening of credit conditions has the potential to intensify the housing correction and to restrain economic growth more generally. Today's action is intended to help forestall some of the adverse effects on the broader economy that might otherwise arise from the disruptions in financial markets and to promote moderate growth over time. Readings on core inflation have improved modestly this year. However, the Committee judges that some inflation risks remain, and it will continue to monitor inflation developments carefully." the Fed said in a statement after the decision.
Local stocks in the BizTimes Stock Index spiked with the broader market this afternoon, led by Johnson Controls Inc. (up $4.22 to $114.50), Bucyrus International Inc. (up $3.73 to $69.83) and Kohl's Corp. (up $2.31 to $58.20).